dog relocation to doha from the U.K

Mashulia, i am so sorry, I have not checked this site for such along time. I will message you now.

Dear Gelana71, as you have lived in the country for a bit, do you have a word of advice for me? We are considering a work-related move to Doha, which will be very difficult if possible at all as we have three dogs, a mini schnauzer, a small French bulldog and a boxer. Have you seen boxers in Doha? Is it possible to get an import permission for this breed at all? Thank you so much in advance!

hi,

i need to travel to doha with my small dog. can you please let me know if you had problems at the airport in doha and whether i can take my dog in the cabin with me (this is very important). also which airline did you travel with. i am getting different information every time i call someone. first they tell me i can travel with my dog in cabin.. then someone else says you cannot. i am not sure what to do!! i am travelling from the UK to doha.

thanks :)

farsheed

Myself, two children and bella have arrived :) Bella "DID" fly in the cabin with us. She weighed in at 6.3 kg including her bag. We did need the original copy of the import permit in our possession before arriving in Doha, my husband brought it to the uk before we travelled. We flew klm via amsterdam. No checks done with paperwork at all at Amsterdam or Doha.

Lufthansa do not fly a dog in the cabin from the uk, only klm will do this. Lufthansa state they do, however when you come to book they only allow it from Europe to doha.

Bella behaved perfectly, unlike the children on our flight. We booked seats with extra leg room which again was super. They allowed us to take bella out of her travel bag in Amsterdam until our connecting flight.

So glad I persevered with this. There is very little info in the uk, or is it they make it so hard so that your pet travels as cargo? The latter I think.

I in the end used Qatar veterinary practice, they were excellent replying to emails promptly and wanting to help with any queries I had. Thanks tiddsmum for your advice.

Ha ha, well you got me, I am sitting here laughing out loud, its the hysteria of what we are about to do setting in. Its a good job I dont own any scales otherwise poor Bella would be on them.

It was just a joke re her pedigree! I know someone with a Shi Tzu / Poodle cross which regularly travels with her between Toronto and London in the cabin of aircrafts, and meets the weight limit. Even a large Yorkie should be fine!

Tiddsmum, Bella hasn't had her Rabies yet as she has just been chipped. The vet told me she needed to be chipped before the Rabies vaccine can be validated. She will be having this done in the next few weeks. Im sure she doesn't need to be blood tested or chipped for Qatar, however returning to the U.K then she would need both, hence doing it now. If she does need the blood test then I am cutting it fine as I believe this can take a couple of months for results. If the test is needed I will leave Bella with my dad as she holidays with him when we visit Doha in holidays and come back for her once things are complete. I will certainly be taking your advice and speaking with Dr Khaled, he seems to really know what is what. Im sure I need to register her with the Ministry within 48 hours of arriving which Im sure Dr Khaled is also able to help with.

I will check out her papers as she is not a tiny Yorky, she is slightly smaller than our family pet when I was a child. His title was a miniature and was a full pedigree. The trend for most is a Tea Cup which tends to be mixed with Chihuahua which is what we avoided. You now have me thinking though about Bellas own pedigree which I will now check.

The killer crunch question...has Bella been given her rabies jabs? That will impact on your timescale...

A good vet in the UK should be able to help you with everything you need to do vis a vis the export stuff. The airline has to have signed documentation that your pet is healthy and fit to travel (issued no more than 48 hours before your flight).

Dr Khaled said that he could organise our import permit - he needed certification of jabs (rabies) and copy of passport. It is quite possible that the permit could be sent to you electronically, if you think about it, most people would unlikely to be here on the ground in Qatar anyway...

Thanks for the compliments anyway Ijust know that I couldn't leave my beloved pet behind if I was coming out for a long stay, so happy to help anyone else.

A haircut would probably be a good idea anyway, considering the heat, but I am sure that your dog doesn't weigh over 6kg. If she does, I would have a rather thorough look at her pedigree papers!!!!

I apologize for sentences/paragraphs above, my laptop crashed twice prior to posting, I didn't want to risk it again and posted before checking.

Thank you so much for the advice. I will persevere, I will have Bella clipped before travel, she may weigh a little lighter. We have to travel end August as our daughter is starting her A levels at Park House in September.

After reading Tiddsmum's reply I checked out Lufthanza and they allow a slightly heavier allowance than KLM. Will definitely contact Doha Vets.

My husband is already living in Doha, so im thinking if I email info to Doha Vets they deal with the import side, my husband could bring the license with him when he returns for our big move in August. We cant move before as my daughter is doing her GCSE's. The permit is valid for a month, I will also check with them if they envisage any trouble once we land in Doha regarding customs/security, not quite sure of the protocol.

I wanted a company in the U.K to deal with everything, however as they wont acknowledge carrying Bella in the Cabin (obviously not enough money in it) I will continue with this challenge myself.

Tiddsmum you have been so kind in offering this valuable information. Dont stop giving me or this forum more information if you think of any more.

There is such a lack of information regarding Cabin travel and Im sure most small dog owners are not aware that this can happen.

You are star and obviously a very caring animal lover unlike the first comment on my post.

Glad it was useful for someone...it was worth the effort...if not for me!

Great Tiddsmum.. Excellent information...:)

I'm on a roll now - if you check the link I posted, the type of carrier you will need weighs in at 900g...to go over the recommended weight allowance, that would have to be one hell of an obese Yorkie !!! ;-)

Yorkies average in at 2-3 kg, my cat is 4 kg and these carriers are designed to be super light, for this exact purpose! Bar chiuauas, I cannot think of a lighter dog. It's worth pursing anyway and DohaVets and the airlines are experts on this, so don't be disheartened. You don't get anywhere without trying....

I don't think that YT will qualify under this scheme, remember the weight of the Pet+carrier has to be 7kg or below 7kg!

Oh, just double checked my facts: pet + carrier has to be under 7kg. Time to put your YT on a diet?????

The airline website will give you the maximum dimensions of the carrier (but do not be put off by the height restriction, as these special carriers squash down to the maximum allowed height ~20 cm I think)

Get in touch with Dr Khaled El Hossan ([email protected]), he can sort all the paperwork out this end. The import licence is valid for 1 month, but it may be worth finding out how long it takes to get one in the first place...

All you will need to do is sort out the export papers from DEFRA at UK end - this is the link to the relevant contacts: http://animalhealth.defra.gov.uk/about/contact-us/tradeexports.html

Oh, here is an example of the type of carrier: http://www.zooplus.co.uk/ask?q=sturdi+bag&num=20&form=search&gclid=CMbG7c2d468CFQt66wodhz7NwA

This is all theory - I had been planning to bring out my elderly cat (who would have been too stressed in the hold), but as we are not staying in Qatar, will now not need to do this.

Hope it all goes well for you and your daughter's dog. Have to say though, August is an awfully brutal month to be bringing the poor thing out there, hope it doesn't have a full coat!

Yes, call Doha Vets. They can clear this up for you, good luck! It was my impression that only Lufthansa and maybe KLM did this.

Mandi

Thank you so much for this information Tiddsmum. Have you had experience of animals travelling this way yourself? I had checked with KLM who said exactly as you have, however when 2 companies in the U.K told me this was not allowed it left me feeling very deflated and wondering if it was maybe Doha Airport that dont accept dogs travelling this way. She is our daughters dog but is a very special part of the family and keeping our teenager onside for this move is very important. I really appreciate your replying as I have tried to obtaining this through other blogs, websites to no evail, all say cargo, excess baggage in hold.

I will also contact Doha Vets who may be able to help with import certificate and help upon our arrival.

Both KLM and Lufthanza allow you to bring pets from the UK (via Netherlands or Germany) in the cabin. The pet plus the carrier has to weigh under around 8kg (which should be fine for a small breed). Price is surprisingly minimal - it is a fixed excess baggage charge of around £70 (check with airlines). The pet has to be transported in a carrier which fits under the seat (really only during take off and touch down). There are special soft carriers which have a tent-like squashable roof which will fit under the seat and spring back up. The brand that springs to mind is Sturdibag. Good luck! Btw I was told about the airlines by Doha Vets (who were amazingly helpful) and then checked directly with the airlines in the UK, who agreed with this...

Dogs go in the hold in special containers.

dogs are dogs only